This week, the world watched in anticipation for Russia’s Victory Day parade after President Volodymyr Zelensky commented that he could not guarantee the safety of those attending. Meanwhile, the European Union moves one step forward to banning Russian gas from the European continent. It is also revealed this week that U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has fallen out of step with the White House.
"(Russian) President (Vladimir) Putin... doesn't want to have a ceasefire agreement with Ukraine, but rather wants to meet on Thursday, in Turkey, to negotiate a possible end to the bloodbath. Ukraine should agree to this, immediately," U.S. President Donald Trump said.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio will travel to to Antalya, Turkey, for a NATO foreign ministers’ meeting from May 14–16, where he is expected to address the war in Ukraine and push for stronger Allied defense commitments.
The Kremlin said the leaders held a detailed discussion about the Russian initiative and Erdogan expressed full support, reiterating Turkey’s readiness to provide a venue and assist in organizing the negotiations.
Erdogan told Macron that international cooperation is critical for initiating peace negotiations and the "sensitive implementation" of Ukraine’s recovery and reconstruction processes, the Turkish Presidency reported.
The assault began around 2 a.m. on May 11, with Russian forces deploying 108 Shahed-type attack drones and decoy UAVs from multiple directions, Ukraine’s Air Force said.
"Think of the hundreds of thousands of lives that will be saved as this never ending 'bloodbath' hopefully comes to an end... I will continue to work with both sides to make sure that it happens."
Photo for illustrative purposes. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky addresses the Ukrainian Parliament in Kyiv, Ukraine on Dec. 28, 2022. (Ukrainian Presidency / Handout/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
Ukraine's parliament, the Verkhovna Rada, voted on Sept. 19 to rename 327 settlements that had names related to the Russian Empire or the Soviet Union.
Ukraine's parliament outlawed most Soviet and communist symbols, street names, and monuments as part of a decommunization process in 2015, and many cities, which had received new names under the Soviet authorities, were renamed to reflect their Ukrainian identity.
President Volodymyr Zelensky then signed a law in April 2023 that banned naming geographic sites in Ukraine after Russian figures or historical events in response to the Russian invasion.
Lawmaker Roman Lozynskyi described the decision as "truly historic" and "what should have been done 33 years ago," when Ukraine gained its independence.
"Names imposed on us by Moscow over the centuries will finally be sent to the dustbin of history."
"Towns and villages will return to their historical names, or receive new ones proposed by local councils," Lozynskyi said.
The cities to be renamed include Chervonohrad in Lviv Oblast. The city, whose name refers to the color red, was called Khrystynopil until it was renamed by the Soviet authorities in 1951.
The new name, Sheptytskyi, was the name of a Ukrainian bishop from the region.
The village of Krasnohrad in Kharkiv Oblast, whose name also refers to the Russian word for the color red, will be renamed Berestyn, after the nearby river of Berestova.
The city of Druzhba in Sumy Oblast has had the name Khutir Mykhailivskyi restored. This was the city's original name before it was changed to Druzhba, meaning Friendship, by the Soviet authorities in 1962.
The start of the full-scale invasion the city regularly comes under attack due to its location just a few kilometers from the border with Russia.
Novomoskovsk, a city in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, has been renamed Samar, which refers to the original name of the local Cossack settlement, which was renamed after Moscow in 1794.
According to Lozynskyi, the Verkhovna Rada still needs to make a decision on the naming of another 200 settlements across Ukraine.
Kate Tsurkan
